Thoracoscopic lobectomy for treating cancer in a patient with an unusual vein anomaly.

Various anatomical variants in pulmonary veins can have a serious effect on patients undergoing lung surgery. We present a case of a patient with an unusual pulmonary vein variation. Preoperative review of the patient's three-dimensional 64-row multidetector computed tomography imaging allowed us precise simulation and good orientation of the patient's vascular variant anatomy during surgery. Upper lobectomy through thoracoscopic approach was performed successfully in the case where the middle lobe vein might have been divided without preoperative anatomical evaluation by 3D CT images.